Initiatives by the British Woodworking Federation (BWF) to tackle the joinery skills crisis have received ringing endorsement from Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) chief executive Adrian Belton. Mr Belton said he was committed to improving the relationship between the industry and the CITB.

"We have heard you loud and clear," he told the delegates from the joinery manufacturing and woodworking industry at the BWF Members’ Day. "You want less bureaucracy, more online access and quicker, more flexible training support."

The CITB, he added, was responding. "We’re making grant claims simpler and putting them online, along with training plans. We are ensuring more consistent support for BWF members across the country and we’ll continue to listen and respond."

Mr Belton also pledged CITB’s continued support for the BWF’s campaigns to improve skills, provision and quality in woodworking training – including help to fund training. BWF members heard that they get more back from the CITB levy than they put in – last year, member firms received £1.20 for every pound.

This also links to the joinery industry’s pre-eminent position on apprenticeships. Joinery has the highest apprentices ratio in construction.

But the CITB needed to know what else the industry wants, said Mr Belton. "We’re hearing different messages. Some of you are saying you need traditional skills, others that you need skills to move to more modern methods of construction and adopt new technologies, such as Building Information Modelling.

There’s also support for greater focus on skills of entrepreneurship, management and sales.

ClarIty on skills

"We want to know the challenges you face. We are here to help, but we need your help too, and clarity on the skills support needed."

Mr Belton’s rousing speech was part of the BWF’s most successful Members’ Day yet, The event at Whittlebury Hall, Northamptonshire was attended by 154 delegates from across the industry spectrum. They also heard an inspiring analysis of why society should use more timber from Wood for Good project director David Hopkins,.

Mr Hopkins emphasised the sustainability of the modern timber industry, wood’s potential contribution to a low-carbon economy, its superlative building qualities and its benefits to health, backing his arguments with a host of statistics.

The event closed with a thought-provoking look by Ross Holleron, from the Zero Carbon Hub, of the "significant performance gap" that exists between design and as-built energy performance and the construction industry’s role in tackling it. ComplIanCe, resIlIenCe, growTh The theme of this year’s Members’ Day was ‘compliance, resilience and growth’, strategies for meeting the business demands of today’s market.

Delegates took part in workshops and masterclasses showcasing latest innovations from joinery trade suppliers and advice sessions on a wide range of business management issues.

Hot topics included how lean principles can enhance profitability, training and supervision for woodworking, marketing and social media, and key areas of human resources, including internal communications, talent management and pension auto-enrolment.

There were also popular technical workshops focusing on the rise of narrow cavity units, controlling machine risks and other elements of workshop health and safety, and availability of timber species.

The headline Members Day sponsor was Vetrotech, which has a long association with the event, while other exhibitors included Deventer Weatherseals, International Timber, Joinerysoft, Miller McKenzie Recruitment, Remmers, Sykes & Co, Towergate Insurance, and with silver sponsors B&CE and Qwood. BWF membership director Michael Lee said the event had attracted its largest ever audience. "And we received excellent feedback, with almost 100% rating the event as ‘excellent’ or ‘good’," he said.

Delegates commented how much they valued the networking opportunities offered by the Day itself, and pre-event dinner. Workshop presentations are available to BWF members to download from the BWF website at www.bwf.org.uk/publications/ training